Mail processing apparatus

ABSTRACT

An automatic mail processing apparatus having means for postmarking a registered mail matter, means for applying information such as the accepting post office designation, serial number and date to the mail matter, a keyboard for generating numerical signals representative of the postal charge, compensation money and weight, and means for supplying a sheet of paper for recording the information and the numerical signals on the sheet, so as thereby to reduce the processing period of time and preventing errors due to manual handling.

United States Patent Nishiyama et al.

[ 1 Sept. 5, 1972 [54] MAIL PROCESSING APPARATUS [72] lnventorsi AkiraNishiyama, Neyagav/a; Tooru Fukui, Suita; Satoshi Takahashi, Hirakata;Yuii Takashima, Neyagawa', Masaaki Nakano, Osaka; Yoshiteru lzura;Masaaki Tanaka, both of Toyonaka, all of Japan [73] Assignee: MatsushitaElectric Industrial Co.

Ltd., Osaka, Japan [22] Filed: July 13, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 54,555

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jul 18, 1969 Ja an ..44/58l40 Jul14, 1969 Japan ..44/56663 Jul 14, 1969 Japan ..44/56665 Jul 18, 1969Japan ..44/58135 July 18, 1969 Japan ..44/5s139 52 U.S.Cl..355/133,95/1.1,346/107 c, 355/39, 355/112 51 Int. Cl. ..G03b,G03b27/14 [58] lheld of Search ..355/39, 40, 41, 64, 112, 133; 95/1.1;346/107 C, 22

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,960,377 1 l/ l 960 Simjian..346/22 3,104,314 9/1963 Simjian ..346/107 C 3,458,253 7/1969 Hansen..355/19 3,411,768 11/1968 Gatti ..271/10 2,930,296 3/ 1960 Simjian.'....346/ 107 C 2,717,069 9/1955 Driscoll ..346/ 107 C 3,065,467 1 l/1962 Prevost "346/ 107 C 2,983,187 5/1961 Bone ..346/107 C PrimaryExaminer-Samuel S. Matthews Assistant Examiner-Richard L. MosesAttorney-Stevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher [57] ABSTRACT An automatic mailprocessing apparatus having means for postmarking a registered mailmatter, means for applying information such as the accepting post officedesignation, serial number and date to the mail matter, a keyboard forgenerating numerical signals representative of the postal charge,compensation money and weight, and means for supplying a sheet of paperfor recording the information and the numerical signals on the sheet, soas thereby to reduce the processing period of time and preventing errorsdue to manual handling.

1 Claim, 12 Drawing Figures HEIDI] COUNTER PATENTEDsEP 5.912 3.689.155sum 3 M 5 $40 44 i 7) 2 z a?) DELIVERY SLIP Cop OFE/VVELQPE 7. l2. DATENo.3 MAIL r P05 omaz/vo 5mm Na PATENTED P SHEET 5 0F 5 mm NM NH Au CW mw5% H 2 v1 6 6 M m F W 4L 8 WW 5 A6 R6 Maw AL mmm H mm \W $1 5 A a MM xRETURN 64\ CHANGE RECE/Pr MAIL PROCESSING APPARATUS This inventionrelates to an apparatus for the automatic processing of mail.

The processing of registered mail matters is generally broadlyclassified into three operations, that is, the accepting operation forthe mail matter between the sender and an accepting post office, theinter-office operation for the transfer of the mail matter between theaccepting post office and a receiving post oflice, and the deliveryoperation for the delivery of the mail matter from the receiving postoffice to the receiver of the mail matter. Any of these operations hasbeen troublesome in that characters and numerals must be transcribed orstamped on the mail matter. Further, due to the fact that all theseoperations have been carried out by hand, an extremely extended periodof time has been required for the handling of the mail matter and manyerrors have been seen during the transcription of the characters andnumerals on the mail matter.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to mechanizethe mail processing operation to provide an automatic mail'processingapparatus thereby to reduce the mail processing period of time to aminimum and to prevent inadvertent mistakes due to the manualprocessing.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be apparent from the following description of someembodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a block diagram and an external view, respectively, ofan embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are a block diagram and an external view, respectively, ofanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views of parts of a further embodiment ofthe present invention;

. FIG. 7 is a plan view of a delivery slip prepared in the course ofmail processing by the apparatus shown in FIGS. 5 and 6;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views of parts of another embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a list of accepted mail prepared in the courseof mail processing by the apparatus shown in FIGS. 8 and 9; and

FIGS. 11 and 12 are a block diagram and an external view, respectively,of a further embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a mail matter 16 which may comprise aregistered envelope a parcel, is inserted into a mail insertion openingof an apparatus 14 in a predetermined direction. A postmarker 1 imprintsa postmark on the mail matter 16 and then an information stamper 2imprints information including the designation of the accepting postoflice, the serial number and the date of acceptance on the mail matter16. Upon completion of the two kinds of operations described above, aswitch 3 is actuated to energize a lamp (not shown). As soon as theswitch 3 is actuated, a web of photosensitive paper is supplied from apaper supply means 5, and a strip of paper is cut off from the web ofphotosensitive paper by a cutter 6 to provide a blank for preparing amail receipt therefrom. The blank is fed to a copying means 7 where theaddress and name of the sender and receiver and the informationincluding the designation of the accepting post office, the serialnumber and the date of acceptance carried by the mail matter 16 as wellas information supplied from an information generating means 8 arecopied on the blank to provide a mail receipt 15. The informationgenerating means 8 is connected with a keyboard 4 for cooperationtherewith so that, in response to the manipulation of the keyboard 4depending on the weight, postal charge, compensation money (in the caseof a registered mail matter) and any other required factors, thesefactors are displayed on a display means 13, and at at the same time,the information thereof is generated from the information generatingmeans 8.

The mail matters 16 are periodically collected to be collectivelytransferred to the next processing step. A switch means 9 is provided toactuate a paper supply means 10 and a serial number printing means 12 soas to prepare a record or list of accepted mail. A web of photosensitivepaper supplied from the paper supply means 10 is fed past a cutter 11 tothe serial number printing means 12 where the serial number is printedon the strip to provide the list of accepted mail. In starting theperiodic transfer of the mail matters, the switch means 9 is turned onso that the serial number printing means 12 prints the serial number ofthe processed mail matters on the strip supplied from the paper supplymeans 10 to provide the list of accepted mail. Upon completion of theperiodic transfer of the mail matters, the switch means 9 is turned offto cause the operation of the cutter 11 thereby to cut off the stripfrom the web of photosensitive paper, and at the same time, to stop theoperation of the printing means 12 and the paper supply means 10.

According to the embodiment described above, a relatively simple andinexpensive apparatus can greatly improve the service at the window ofthe accepting post office. That is, it is a very time-consumingoperation to clearly transcribe the address and name of the sender andreceiver at the window for preparing a mail receipt. However, accordingto the embodiment described above, the address and name transcribingoperation, the imprinting of the postmark and date of acceptance, andthe preparation of the mail receipt as well as the list of accepted mailcan be carried out simultaneously thereby quickening the service at thewindow and improving the precision of such service.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a mail matter 34 is inserted into a mailinsertion opening of an apparatus 37 in a predetermined direction. Apostmarker 17 imprints a postmark on; the mail matter 34 and then aninformation stamper l8 imprints information including the designation ofthe accepting post office, the serial number and the date of acceptanceon the mail matter 34. An edge card applying means 19 attaches an edgecard to the mail matter 34, and a code recorder 20 records requiredcodes corresponding to at least the serial number and the receiving postoffice number on the edge card so that the codes can be magnetically oroptically reproduced. The edge card may be mechanically attached to themail matter by holding the mail matter between a pair of rubber rolls.For the correct positioning of the edge card on the mail matter, opticalmeans or physically actuated contact means may be employed. Uponcompletion of the operation of the code recorder 20, a switch 21 isactuated to energize a lamp (not shown). As soon as the switch 21 isactuated, a web of photosensitive paper is supplied from a paper supplymeans 22 and a strip of paper is cut off from the web of photosensitivepaper by a cutter 23 to provide a blank to be processed for serving as amail receipt. The bank is supplied to a copying means 24. An informationgenerating means 26 is cooperable with a keyboard 27 so that, inresponse to the manipulation of the keyboard 27 depending on the weight,postal charge, compensation money (in the case of a registered mailmatter) and any other required factors, these factors are displayed on adisplay means 35, and at the same time, the information thereof isgenerated from the information generating means 26. A web of a suitablepaper is supplied from a paper supply means 33 through a cutter 32 to atypewriter 31 where the information including the weight, postal chargeand compensation money supplied from the information generating means 26in association with the keyboard 27 is typed on the strip. The copyingmeans 24 copies the characters typed on the strip cut from paper supply33 and the address and name carried by the mail matter 34 on the blankof photo-sensitive paper cut off by the cutter 23 from the web ofphotosensitive paper supplied from the paper supply means 22 so as toprovide a mail receipt 36.

The mail matters 34 are periodically collected to be collectivelytransferred to the next processing step. A switch means 25 is providedto actuate a paper supply means 28 and a serial number printing means 30so as to prepare a record or list of accepted mail. A web ofphotosensitive paper supplied from the paper supply means 28 is fed pasta cutter 29 to the serial number printing means 30 where the serialnumber is printed on the strip to provide the list of accepted mail. Instarting the periodic transfer of the mail matters, the switch means 25is turned on so that the serial number printing means 30 prints theserial number of the processed mail matters on the strip supplied fromthe paper supply means 28 to provide the list of accepted mail. Uponcompletion of the periodic transfer of the mail matters, the switchmeans 25 is turned off to cause the operation of the cutter 29 therebyto cut off the strip from the web of photosensitive paper, and at thesame time, to stop the operation of the printing means 30 and the papersupply means 28.

According to the second embodiment described above, a relatively simpleand inexpensive apparatus can greatly improve the service at the windowof the accepting post office. That is, it is a very time-consumingoperation to clearly transcribe the address and name of the sender andreceiver at the window for preparing a mail receipt. According to theembodiment described above, however, the address and name transcribingoperation, the imprinting of the postmark and date of acceptance, andthe preparation of the mail receipt as well as the list of accepted mailcan be carried out simultaneously thereby expediting the service at thewindow and improving the precision of such service.

Further, in a registered mail matter, a check or money is generallyenclosed in an envelope which has a variety of sizes. It is thereforeextremely difiicult, in the service sections except the service sectionat the window such as the sorting section and collating section, tomechanically read the receiving post office number and the serial numberdirectly described on the mail matter. However, according to theembodiment described above in which an edge card of predetermined sizeis attached to a predetermined position of the mail matter, the edgecard can be easily read mechanically for the automatic sorting of themail matters. Further, the apparatus may be connected to a computer forreading the codes carried by the edge card so as to facilitate thecollation of the mail matter which is transferred from one post ofiiceto another. In other words, all the service for the mail matterthroughout its travel from the accepting post office to the delivery canbe checked by the edge card and the computer. Moreover, the presentinvention provides a system in which the characters obtained from akeyboard, a typewriter and a mail matter are copied on a single strip ofpaper. This means that a system of producing character patterns by akeyboard is combined with a system of typewriting characters by atypewriter and copying the typed characters, and thus the keyboard isnot necessarily provided with an information generating means such as acopying character pattern generator. In other words, a copying characterpattern generator may be affixed to the keyboard when fixed characterpatterns are generated independently of the mail, while the typewritermay be operated in any other cases and the typed characters may becopied together with the characters on the mail matter thereby toprepare a mail receipt in an inexpensive manner.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show parts of an apparatus for preparing a delivery slipof a registered mail matter and a duplicate thereof. Referring to FIG.5, a box 38 contains therein non-processed registered mail matters. Themail matters are successively fed into a processed mail receiving box 42by means of rollers 39 and a belt 43. (Non-processed and processed mailmatters in the description of FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, refer respectively tomail matters before and after processing for the preparation of adelivery slip as illustrated in FIG. 7, corresponding to each processedmail matter.) While a mail matter 44 passes through a point A, theaddress and name of the sender and receiver as well as the designationof the accepting post office and the serial number described andimprinted on the mail matter 44 are recorded on a strip as shown in FIG.7 by an optical system 40 which has a structure as shown in FIG. 6. Theoptical system 40 includes an optical means 45 for producing the entireimage of the mail matter 44 and an optical means 46 for producing anenlarged partial image including the designation of the accepting postoffice and the serial number. These images are recorded on a web ofphotosensitive paper supplied from a supply roll 41 so as to prepare adelivery slip as shown in FIG. 7. The non-processed mail container 38 isprovided with means for aligning the specific edges of the mail mattersso that the post office number, the serial number, etc. imprinted on apredetermined place of each mail matter are brought to a predeterminedposition.

The third embodiment of the present invention described above isadvantageous in that the processing period of time per mail matter canbe reduced by virtue of the mechanized system, the labor is eased due tothe elimination of the entry of characters by hand, no errors can occurdue to the preparation of the record by photographic reproduction, and aduplicate can be easily obtained for convient filing.

Referring to FIG. 8, a mail processing apparatus embodying the presentinvention has a function of taking a copy of a registered mail matterand the serial number thereof, a function of preparing a list ofaccepted mail,

and a function of counting the number of such mail matters.

A purality of non-processed mail matters such as envelopes 56 arestacked up on a table 47 which is provided with a positioning means 55for aligning the specific edges of the envelopes 56 so that the postoffice number 53 and the serial number 54 printed on a predeterminedplace of each envelope 56 can be registered at a predetermined positionas shown in FIG. 9. After so aligning the envelopes 56, the envelopes 56are fed one by one by a feeding means 48. As an envelope 56 passesthrough a point A on the feeding means 48, a copying means 49 takes acopy of the entire envelope 56 or of a portion of the envelope 56carrying the accepting post office number 53 and the serial number 54.Thus, a list having a series of post ofiice numbers and serial numberscarried by the envelopes 56 can be obtained as shown in FIG. 10. As theenvelopes 56 are successively fed by the feeding means 48, a counter 50counts the number of envelopes 56 passing therebelow. The number ofenvelopes 56 may be detected by an optical method employing aphotoelectric transducer or by a mechanical method employing amechanical contact means such as a micro-switch. The number of envelopes56 thus counted is displayed by a suitable means such as a display tube.After the above processing, the envelopes 56 are divided into aplurality of groups each consisting of ten, one hundred or moreenvelopes by means of a dividing means 51 which is responsive to theoutput of the counter 50. A parting colored sheet may be interposedbetween the groups of envelopes or each group of envelopes may bebundled. The envelopes 56 divided into the groups each consisting of afixed number of envelopes are stacked on a table 52 to be transferredtherefrom later.

The fourth embodiment of the present invention described above which canfully automatically process registered mail matters is advantageous inthat the processing period of time per envelope can be reduced by virtueof the mechanized system, the need for the entry of characters by handis eliminated thereby reducing the number of clerks particitatingdirectly in the service of this kind and easing the labor involved, noerrors can occur due to the preparation of the record by photographicreproduction, and a duplicate can be easily obtained for convient filingfollowing the service of this kind.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a further embodiment of the present invention whichmay be installed in a post office for saving the labor of mail clerks inaccepting mail matters or outside of the post office for accepting mailmatters in the nighttime during which the post office is closed, or maybe installed in a building or on the street for automatically carryingout, without being attended by a mail clerk, the acceptance ofregistered mail matters for which a receipt must be issued.

A mail matter 57 such as a registered envelope or parcel is dropped intoa mail insertion opening 66 by the sender. The weight of the droppedmail matter 57 is measured by a scale 58 and the measured value is supplied to a charge calculator 59. Further, the sender actuates a manualsignal input means 60 to put the information including theclassfiication of the mail, either ordinary or express delivery, andcompensation money into the charge calculator 59. An input monitor 68 isprovided for the monitoring of the input signals. The charge calculator59 calculates the charge on the basis of the information supplied fromthe scale 58 and the manual signal input means 60, and the result ofcharge calculation is displayed on a charge display means 61. A balancecalculator 63 compares the money dropped into a coin inlet 62 by thesender with the result of charge and return any balance to a changereturning section 64. As soon as the proper charge is accepted, a means65 which may be a photographic copying means or printer prepares a mailreceipt and a copy thereof so as to issue the mail receipt to the senderand reserve the copy in the apparatus as a record.

The manual signal input means 60 illustrated in FIG. 11 may be akeyboard which is manually operated or a signal input means responsiveto voice information. A so-called edge card such as a magnetic card orpunched card bearing a record of coded characters or visible charactersmay be attached to a mail matter so that the record carried by the edgecard'can be read by means such as a magnetic head, OCR, OMR, or cadmiumselenide or like photoelectric element. Thus, the apparatus can beconnected to a large-scale mail control system which includes a computerfor preparing the receipts, counting the number of mail matters and,carrying out the collation and sorting of mail matters.

The fifth embodiment of the present invention described above isadvantageous in that the work at the window of a post office for theacceptance of registered mail matters can be done at high speed withoutthe attendance of post office clerks, and the registered mail matterscan be accepted at any time of the day. Another advantage resides in thefact that the mail processing apparatus may be installed in a buildingor on the street, that is, at any suitable places convenient for thesenders. A further advantage is that the mail matters are processedwithin the apparatus without the aid of the human hand and thus thepossibility of trouble such as losses of mail matters can be reduced toa minimum. A yet further advantage resides in the fact that the sortingand counting of the number of mail matters, collation, and issuance ofvouchers are facilitated by the attachment of an edge card to the mailmatters and thus the apparatus can be connected to a large-scale mailcontrol system which will come out in future.

What is claimed is:

1. A mail processing apparatus for processing mail matters, such asregistered envelopes or parcels, at a post office window, comprising:means for imprinting a postmark on each accepted mail matter, means forapplying information, said information comprising the accepting postoflice designation, the registration serial number, and the date to eachmail matter, means for positioning a stack of mail matters havinginformation applied thereto for subsequent movement into position to becopied, means for providing a registered mail and means for printingsaid other information on the sheet of paper which comprises thereceipt, and means for taking out one mail matter after another from thestack and successively moving them toward the means for copying eachmail matter.

l l i k =0

1. A mail processing apparatus for processing mail matters, such asregistered envelopes or parcels, at a post office window, comprising:means for imprinting a postmark on each accepted mail matter, means forapplying information, said information comprising the accepting postoffice designation, the registration serial number, and the date to eachmail matter, means for positioning a stack of mail matters havinginformation applied thereto for subsequent movement into position to becopied, means for providing a registered mail receipt comprising meansfor copying each mail matter having information applied thereto on asheet of photosensitive paper which comprises said receipt, a numericalsignal generating means for indicating other information, said otherinformation comprising the weight, postal charge, compensation money,and date, and means for printing said other information on the sheet ofpaper which comprises the receipt, and means for taking out one mailmatter after another from the stack and successively moving them towardthe means for copying each mail matter.